Air or gas lift pump



A ril' 6 1926. 1,579,60 6

7 H. GRACEY AIR OR GAS LIFT PUMP Filed August 26, 1925 iff Patented Apr. 6, 1926.

I 1,579,606 PATENT OFFICE.

HARVEY H. GBACEY, 0F LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA.

Lam on ens LIFT PUMP.

Application filed August 26, 1925. Serial No. 52,532.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARVEY H. GRAOEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Long Beach, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new,

and useful Air or Gas Lift Pump, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to pneumatic or airlift pumps, such as are used largely in deep wells for raising oil or water.

Pumps of this type operate through the action of air or gas under pressure which is discharged so as to move upwardly near the bottom of the well, mixing with the liquid to'be raised and carrying the same upward.

- The general object of this invention is to improve the general construction of such a pump to adapt the same for operation in wells where the temperature is high; and to provide means for guiding the compressed air or gas under pressure in such a way that it will exert its action most effectively upon the liquid to be raised; also to provide a construction in which a continuous annular port or duct is provided through which the air passes and through which is is directed upwardly in an undlvided annular-current surrounding the entrained liquid.

While this feature of the invention may be applied to a pump with or without a valve, in the present specification I have described a pump having a valve through which the liquid flows upwardly, but at which the flow is normally checked; and I provide an improved construct-ion of piston and barrel through the medium of which the valveis not opened until the air pressure reaches a predetermined point; and one of my objects is to provide improved means operating to admit the compressed air immediately that the valve is opened, thereby giving the pump an efficient action when it starts into operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved means for effecting the connection of the compressed air-pipe to the its seat.

A preferred embodiment of 'theinvention is described in the following specification,

while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a vertical section through a well casing and flow-pipe and illustrating a pump therein embodying my invention, certain parts being broken away.

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken through the pump and well casing near the bottom of the well.

Referring particularly to the parts, 1 represents a well casing in which there is provided a flow-pipe 2 connected at its upper end to a distributing head 3. Within the flow-pipe and near the bottom of the well I tions 6 of the flow-pipe. This head and its 4 contiguous parts are constructed so as to get the effect of a return bend which dlrects the compressed air through a continuous annular duct operating to guide the a1r 1n an undivided annular current surroun'dlng a central current of the liquid to be raised. Th1s head is preferably provided with a valve opening 7 with a seat for a valve 8; this valve closes by an upward movement agalnst In the valve opening 7 I provide an upwardly extending tubular nipple 9.

Within the flow-pipe above this point, I

provide avcollar 10 which is threaded on its exterior and connected in place between two adjacent sections of the flow-pipe. Th1s collar has a central opening 11 which is threaded to receive a downwardly extending sleeve 12, which extends down sufl'iclently to enable its. lower edge to telescope slightly with the upper end of the tubular nipple 9, so that an annular air duct 13 1s formed in the lower end of the sleeve. At this point the upper face of thehead 5 is provided with a counter-bore 14 so that if air or gas under' pressure were admitted into the annular space 15 between the sleeve 12 and the flowpipe 2, such air would flow. downwardly into the bore 14 andthen upwardly through the air duct 13, asindicated by the arrows 1n Figure 2. That is to say, I provlde a continuous annular guide-duct for the air av0iding the use of any smallports which would divide the air into streams or smaller currents.

In the upper end of the sleeve 12, I provide a barrel 16 in which operates a piston 17, said piston having a rod 18 which extends downwardly and carries the valve 8. The lower end of the barrel is provided with a stuffing-box 19 which prevents any liquid within the flow-pipe from flowing into the lower end of the barrel 16 below the piston 17.

The side of the barrel 16 is provided with a port 20 and when this port is open, air or gas admitted on the upper side of the piston is permitted to flow through the air-duct 13. In the present instance, this port 20 communicates withthe annular space 15 for this purpose.

I provide a coilspring 21 for holding the valve 8 on its seat in case there is no pressure in the well. This coil spring is disposed around a valve-stem 22 which extends down from the valve. The lower end of the spring thrusts against a spider 23 which is open so as to permit oil to pass up through it from below. I provide means for adjusting the tension of the spring. This may be accomplished by providing a threaded connection 24 between the spider and the flowpipe; by screwing the head 23 further up in the flow-pipe, the tension of the spring can be increased. If desired, the ends of the piston may be provided with spring rings 25 to make it pressure tight.

An air pipe 26 is provided which extends down into the well in alignment with the barrel 16. According to my invention, I effect a substantially air-tight connection between the lower end of this air-pipe and the upper end of the barrel, and for this purpose I provide a ground joint connection 27. .This joint preferably consists of a socket member 28 which is screw-threaded to the upper end of the barrel and provided at its upper end with a conical socket 29. The other socket-member 30 has a conical nozzle 31 which fits into the conical socket 29. These two members 30 and 28 should be ground together so that when connected, as illustrated in Figure 2, they constitute a ground joint.

When it is desired to start the pump, air or gas under sufficient pressure is admitted into the air-pipe 26. The effect of this air is to force the piston 17 downward, thereby opening the valve 8 and almost immediately admitting air under pressure through the air-port 20 and through the annular airduct 13. This air flows upwardly through the air-duct 13 and sleeve 12 at a high velocity and exerts an entraining or ejector action on the oil, which flows upwardly through the tubular nipple 9. It is evident that my pump provides means for admitting an annular current of air with a high velocity completely surrounding a central current of oil or water which is entrained and urged upwardly by the movement of the air.

It is understood that the embodiment of the invention described herein is only one of the many embodiments this invention may take, and I do not wish to be limited in the practice of the invention, nor in the claims, to the particular embodiment set forth.

It will be noted that the pistonand barrel of my pump are located centrally in the flow pipe and for this reason they are insulated from the high temperature of the earth at the bottom of the well. The temperature at this point is sometimes as high as 200 F., which may cause a piston to stick in its barrel if it fits reasonably tight at ordinary temperatures.

VVhat I claim is:

1. In an air-lift pump, the combination of a flow-pipe having a transverse head with a central opening through which the liquid may flow upwardly, a tubular nipple attached in said opening and projecting upwardly from the head, a sleeve secured in the flow pipe above the head extending downwardly and telescoping the upper end of the nipple so as to form an annular air-duct around the nipple, the upper face of said head having a counter-bore adjacent the lower end of the sleeve, and means for admitting a gas under pressure into the space above the transverse head whereby the counter-bore co-operates with the sleeve to direct the air upwardly through the annular duct between the nipple and the sleeve.

2. In an air-lift pump for deep wells, the combination of a flow-pipe within the well casing, a transverse head within the flowpipe, a valve mounted therein, opening in a downward direction and having a valve opening with a tubular nipple extending upwardly therefrom, a collar mounted within the flow-pipe and having a central opening, a sleeve attached to the collar and having its lower edge telescoped with the upper end of the nipple, whereby an annular air duct is formed between the nipple and the sleeve, a piston connected with the valve to open the same, a barrel for the piston and having a port uncovered by the piston when the same is moved downwardly to open the valve, saidport operating to admit the air under pressure to the annular air duct to induce an upward flow of the liquid through the valve and through the sleeve. 3. In an air-lift pump for deep wells, the combination of a flow-pipe within the well casing, a transverse head within the flow-pipe, a valve mounted therein, opening in a downward direction and having a valve opening with a tubular nipple extending upwardly therefrom, a collar downward direction bmounted within the flow-pipe and having a central opening, a sleeve attached to the collar and having its lower edge telescoped withthe upper end of the nipple, whereby an annular air duct is formed between the nipple and the sleeve, a piston connected with the valve to open the same, a barrel for the piston having a port through its side communicating with the annular space between the sleeve and the flow-pipe and operating to admit air under pressure to the annular air duct to induce an upward flow of liquid through the valve and sleeve, said valve having a stem extending downwardly therefrom, a spider adjustably mounted in the flow-pipe below the valve having means for guiding the valve stem, and a spring between the spider ,and' the valve, the tension of which may be regulated by adjusting the spider up or down within the flow-pipe.

4. In an air-lift ump for deep wells, the combination of a ow-pipe within the well casing, a transverse head within the flowpipe, a valve-mounted therein, opening in a and having a 'valve opening with a tubular nipple extending upwardly therefrom, a collar mounted within the flow-pipe and having a central opening, a sleeve attached to the collar-and having its lower edge telescoped with the upper end of the nipple, whereby an annular air -member constructed to be duct is formed between the nipple and the sleeve, a piston connected with the valve to open the same, a barrel for the piston and having a port uncovered by the piston when the same is moved downwardly to open the valve, said portoperating to admit the air under pressure to the annular air duct to induce an upward flow of the liquid through the Valve socket attached to the upper end of the barrel and having a conical recess therein and an air pipe aligning with they piston and aving a conical nozzle to fit into the conical recess and co-operating with the recess to effect a substantially air-tight connection between the air-pipe and the barrel.

5. In an air-lift pump for a deep well having a barrel to receive air pressure, the combination of a socket connection havin a socket member secured to the upper end of the barrel and having a conical recess, said socket connection including a nozzle secured to the lower end of an air pipe and having a coni cal lower end fitting into .said conical recess, said conical nozzle and said conical recess constituting a ground joint for connecting the air pipe to the barrel.

Signed at Los Angeles, Calif this 13 day of Aug, 1925. I I HARVEY H. GRACEY' and through the sleeve, a I 

